I remember starting my adventure with the Garrett AT PRO metal detector today. It was a total infatuation. For those times, it was a really good detector, despite a number of flaws.
Heavy and ill-balanced, it tired my wrist in an instant. A couple of hours and you really wanted to go home. Experts on the subject say that a defect that occurs on land disappears in the water. There is no buoy effect, displacing the device. Possibly, I wasn’t allowed to wade deep with him. The Baltic Sea is for winter, so I only walked on a wet beach. In addition, the manufacturer for many years completely forgot about the ability to adjust the volume level …. Desperate customers did not agree to this, and in the MAX model, you could already enjoy it!
Many years have passed since then. I’ve never been a fan of Garrett’s ACE series. Popular canaries never interested me. Heavy, without the possibility of ground calibration, audio in the form of a chime for the front door scared me away for many years. Don’t get me wrong, it’s first-contact equipment for many, and I started the shelf higher. I was lucky enough to just be able to afford it.
Adventure with the Garrett ACE APEX metal detector
Garrett’s boisterous announcement of a new multi-frequency metal detector was long overdue. The competition has been using this type of device for many years. I had a lot of doubts about whether the new product from the ACE series called APEX would be really good equipment.
The surprise was big. I just had to revoke everything I’d posted before. Very light, well-made, and very simple. These were the first advantages. It is not waterproof, but the time will come after the premiere of the new AT PRO model. When? Nobody knows that.
Full reference to the layout of the buttons from the previous series is a nod to the most conservative users. Simplicity and more simplicity. It only takes a few minutes to switch over, or a few hours to get to know the device from scratch. It’s not everything. When this detector is turned on, there is complete silence. It is incredibly stable. What remains is the boost feature – the sound of the iron, which is quite controversial for one reason. In a heavily littered area, it significantly extends the reaction time, and in a clean one, it allows you to avoid digging garbage. APEX shines on the beach. We will not dig up any caps … which is not so obvious with other devices, even from the top shelf.
The 11-inch probe, working name Viper, is the best solution. It is strongly narrowed, which shortens the reaction time and allows maneuvering in difficult conditions. I do not see the need to change it to something else, because it will take the whole balance to the head, and the performance will change symbolically.
The ability to walk on a salty beach in the additional MS mode, which mutes and stabilizes the device, is a big advantage. We have one more. This is not even Minelab in the cheaper Vanquish models. Frequency selection. Yes, we can choose. 5, 10, 15, or 20 kHz. This is a great option when the conditions are really volatile and we want to look for specific things.
In addition to the advantages, there are also disadvantages of the APEX detector
The APEX metal detector also has disadvantages. This is a typical general cargo vessel, I would choose something completely different when looking for military, and large ones. It is also only rainproof. You can submerge the probe. Electronics no more. Although she survived a snowstorm at my place, so I can’t really complain. The housing has an internal gasket.
Garrett ACE APEX metal detector – summary
To sum up, the APEX metal detector is a really good and simple device, maybe not the cheapest, but the manufacturer has packed nice, modern electronics inside that can cope quite well in harsh conditions. I buy this product, and you?
